Babysitter Needed
by Crimson Eyed Sakura
Summary: Who knew that a misleading ad in the newspaper could lead to a happy ending?


Tumblr prompt - babysitter and parent

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Sam Winchester sighed as he browsed the paper for a job - any job. Just out of high school, he was ready to start working towards earning a car. Unlike his brother Dean, Sam was not car-savvy. That ruled out him working at the local garage with his brother and surrogate uncle, Bobby.

So here he sat, looking through the paper for a nice little part-time job.

After a few minutes, he finally had a list of promising leads.

Ten minutes later, all but one of his leads had been crossed off. Sam sighed again and reread the ad.

_Sitter needed! Once a week, four or five hours on Saturday night. _

_Sittee is six, mostly self-sufficient. All necessities provided. _

_Email g_trickey at youmail dot com  
><em>

Babysitting couldn't be too hard, right? So Sam pulled out his laptop and sent an email, expressing his interest in the job. While he waited for a reply, he made himself some sandwiches for lunch. Halfway through the second one, his email alert went off. The teen brushed the crumbs from his hands and checked the email, reading it three times before smiling and sitting back in his chair.

He had a job.

**############**

Sam received another email the following day with more details about his new job. On Saturdays, Gabriel - as Sam learned was his new boss' name - taught a confectioner's class at the local college. His last sitter had been accepted to an out-of-town school and left him a bit in the lurch. He learned that his new charge was a bit hyperactive, but settled fairly quickly near bedtime. He didn't like to be told no, but would listen eventually. And he loved attention.

Sam felt confident that he could handle this kid.

So a few days later, Sam packed his backpack with his laptop, some coloring books, and a box of crayons he had found in the very back of his closet. He walked to the address Gabriel had given him - which was only a few blocks away - and stood on the stoop of an apartment complex he walked by every day going to and from school. Shaking his head, Sam walked into the building and up to apartment 4A. He hesitantly knocked on the door. Moments later, it was thrown open by a harried looking man with wild hair and a dog in his arms.

A smile broke across his face after a few seconds. "You must be Sam! Come on in!

As he stepped inside, Sam glanced around, looking for his charge. Worry darted through his veins as he realized that there was no evidence of a child living there. As he stared around the rather austere apartment, Gabriel began talking.

"I know I warned you, but he's being very antsy tonight. I think it's because he knows something is up. He hasn't had a new person around him in...forever. So don't feel bad if he avoids you for the majority of the time. Just make sure he doesn't get outside, feed him, and put him in his cage around nine." His back was turned to his new sitter, so he didn't see the shock cross Sam's face at his words.

"I'm sorry, did you just say cage?" Sam asked incredulously.

Gabriel tilted his head as he turned around. "Yeah? Please tell me you're not one of those PETA people who hate putting animals in cages. He's perfectly happy in there for the night, has plenty of room to move around, and it keeps him from making a mess of the house."

Relief flashed across Sam's face. "Oh. No, I'm not. You just caught me off-guard. So, can I meet him?"

Gabriel smiled brightly and brought the dog he had been carrying around with him over to Sam. "Sam, meet Loki. Loki, this is Sam. Be nice!"

The dog - a terrier mix - looked at Sam warily. When Sam plopped himself into the floor, the dog wriggled until Gabriel put him down. Sam was attacked by thirty pounds of excited dog, laughing the whole while Loki tried to lick his face. Gabriel stared at the two with an expression of shock.

"He has never liked anybody off the bat like that. Ever. Are you for real?" the short man asked jokingly.

"I wish I had known I was going to be watching a dog! I would have brought some toys for him to play with," Sam said as he convinced Loki to roll over for belly rubs.

"Wait, you thought I needed a sitter for a person?"

Sam looked up and grinned as he scratched Loki's belly. "I assumed it was a kid. I got worried when you said something about a cage earlier."

Gabriel laughed, deep belly laughs, as he understood Sam's deer-in-the-headlights look from earlier. Sam chuckled and finally stood up from petting the dog. He walked a few steps to stand in front of Gabriel and held out a hand. "Let's start over. Hi, my name is Sam and I am a moron."

Gabriel laughed again and shook his hand. "Hi, Sam. I'm Gabriel and I put extremely vague ads in the newspaper to confuse tall, handsome guys." Gabriel's smile widened when Sam blushed.

"I'm not- I mean you're-" Sam took a breath to stop his rambling and finally said, "So how about that class?"

Gabriel snorted at the abrupt change in subject. "Subtle, you are not. But you are right. I need to get going. I should be back by around nine. Loki will want to be fed around seven-ish and he usually watches cartoons after that until nine. He's pretty good about getting in his cage, but you may have to help him along."

Sam grinned. "I think we'll be good."

As Gabriel ran a brush quickly through his hair, he smiled at the picture the two made, lounging on his couch. With a last glance back at them, he left for his class.

**###########**

A year later, Sam practically lived in Gabriel's apartment. He was taking classes at the local community college, working toward getting his prerequisite classes for Pre-Law out of the way. Gabriel still taught his weekly confectioner's class, but now he could look forward to coming home and snuggling with Sam instead of with Loki.

The two had finally stopped dancing around their attraction to each other the day Sam realized he had earned enough money to buy a car. He bought a crappy little broken-down Honda, confident that Dean and Bobby could help him fix it up, and drove straight to Gabriel's place. He had banged on the door until the shorter man jerked the door open. In reply to Gabriel's questioning look, Sam held up his new keys and grinned.

Gabriel's answering grin was immediate. He jerked Sam inside and wrapped the younger man in a hug and congratulated him. Sam's arms had wrapped slightly hesitantly around him, but tightened once they were there. The two stood for an awkward amount of time before realizing that they should probably let go.

As Gabriel stared up at the sasquatch, he felt something fluttering in his chest. His smile dimmed somewhat when he realized just how bad he had it for the kid. Sam, of course, took it the wrong way. He had been harboring a crush on the baker for weeks now, feeling it grow every time he came over to watch Loki and he ended up sitting up for three hours after Gabriel returned home, watching movies or simply hanging out with the older man.

When Sam started to move away, sadness evident on his face, Gabriel laid a hand gently on his cheek. The other grasped Sam's jacket and gently tugged him down to Gabriel's level. The slow movement gave Sam plenty of time to back out, but Sam was having no part of that. A second later, his lips landed on Gabriel's and they both gasped at the electric feeling coursing through them.

After that, the movies were pretty much just background noise for their makeout sessions.

And so, the college kid and the confectioner lived happily ever after.

All because of a misleading newspaper ad.

* * *

><p>Yay, dorky ending! Haha. I really just wanted to finish this, so I know the ending is rushed. Sorry!<p> 


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